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Fast freight!

In a world that never stops weighing, Avery Weigh-Tronix provides critical service cover to keep DHL on the move

The DHL service centre based at Dublin Airport is seriously impressive. This gargantuan hub can process up to 40,000 consignments a day during busy periods!

On a normal day it receives anywhere between 14,000 to 28,000 consignments, which are processed and sent onto various destinations around Ireland and the rest of the world.

The pace is remarkably fast. For 20 hours a day, 6 days per week, the DHL team deal with freight of all shapes and sizes, ensuring not only that the right consignment gets to the right place, but also that everything coming through the network complies with DHL’s regulations.

Weighing plays a critical part in the process. With such a high volume of freight being loaded onto planes with a maximum weight capacity of 45 tonnes, it’s crucial the correct weight is put onto the aircraft, otherwise it won’t fly.

However, shippers often declare the wrong consignment weight, either because their scales are not calibrated correctly, or they use equipment not fit for purpose.

Consequently, every consignment that goes in and out of DHL’s hub is weighed on one of 17 scales. This ensures the correct weights are given to the load masters, who determine what consignment makes it onto what flight and where it’s placed.

With such importance placed on accurate weighing equipment, aviation regulations state scales need to be calibrated every 3 months. Any uncalibrated scales cannot be used within DHL’s process, meaning a potential delay to planes departing from the hub and ultimately a delay to consignments reaching their destination.

The Irish Avery Weigh-Tronix team have been responsible for calibrating DHL’s scales for over 10 years.

For Operations Trainer, Ken Byrne, that long-standing relationship is important;

“We have a great working relationship with Avery Weigh-Tronix, the engineers are superb and know exactly what they are doing when the arrive on site, giving me the reassurance that the job will be done correctly.”

In such a fast-paced environment where ‘right first time’ is the mantra, uptime is critical.

Locally based Avery Weigh-Tronix engineers are able to reach DHL within hours if there is a problem.

Ken continued, “The Avery Weigh-Tronix team understands the needs of our business. Where other vendors can be unrealistic and don’t provide what they say they will, we can rely on Avery Weigh-Tronix every time to provide us certainty that they will deliver.”